Vic: Linesman electrocuted restoring power after strong winds

AAP General News (Australia)
04-03-2008
Vic: Linesman electrocuted restoring power after strong winds

By Jeff Turnbull, Simon Mossman and Greg Roberts

MELBOURNE, April 3 AAP - The body of a linesman hung for almost two hours from powerlines
today after he was electrocuted while restoring power to Victorian homes still crippled
by yesterday's weather chaos.

The death of the 38-year-old man was the second fatality as a result of the winds of
up to 130 km/h which swept through Victoria.

The linesman, from Somerville, south-east of Melbourne, was making routine repairs
of powerlines at the corner of Beluera Hill Road and Shandon Street in Mornington at 12.20pm
(AEDT) when the tragedy occurred.

Paramedics had to wait for power to be cut before they could retrieve the body at around 2pm.

Yesterday, a 57-year-old woman was crushed when a brick wall collapsed on her in the
southern suburb of Mentone at the height of the destructive winds.

Power supplier Alinta East chief executive Peter Magarry said the company was doing
everything it could to support the man's family and his workmates.

"I am devastated and shocked at the death of a valued team member," Mr Magarry said.

"He was doing his job helping restore power resulting from yesterday's wind storm damage."

Alinta East spokesman Scott Parker said it was too early to know what happened.

"We are doing what we can to make sure this doesn't happen again - it was an otherwise
routine job," Mr Parker said.

Worksafe Victoria chief John Merritt reminded Victorians who have been inconvenienced
by the storm by either blackouts or damage to their homes that the safety of emergency
workers must come first.

"The tragic circumstances surrounding this event today and yesterday just reminds us
that the primacy of safety first for workers - the first and most important thing is the
safety of the workers," Mr Merritt said.

Mr Merritt said the death yesterday of a man in a building collapse in Dandenong could
not be blamed on the weather.

"It happened before the wind got up and we're looking at the integrity of the construction,"

Mr Merritt said.

The State Emergency Service (SES) has been inundated with calls from 4,300 households
in metropolitan Melbourne, mostly dealing with fallen trees.

SES state duty officer John Parker said the 800 local volunteers were being boosted
by crews from around the state and NSW.

"We are asking people to be patient as we work through this volume of calls," Mr Parker said.

"They are predominately for trees down across houses and driveways so there's a lot
of chainsaw work and it is time-consuming."

The powerful winds cut power to more than 200,000 homes and businesses in Victoria,
with around 40,000 still without power late today and power companies will work through
the night to reconnect homes.

It could be days before the full cost of the damage inflicted by yesterday's wild winds
is known, insurance companies say.

Insurance Council spokesman Sean Sampson said it was too early to estimate the insurance
cost of the weather event.

"You can't speculate on the cost while the event is still happening," he told AAP.

"Usually it takes at least 24 to 48 hours before you can assess the insurable impact
and get an indication of the insurance cost as the claims come in.

"From what I've been told it's not a large scale event and at the moment we have not
seen a massive influx of claims."

But Melbourne-based EBM Insurance Brokers predicted a deluge of claims but said the
storms caused a loss of communication and power, which general manager Sharon Fox Slater
says would have prevented some customers lodging their claims.

Government grants of about $1,000 will be available to households experiencing hardship
after yesterday's wild weather.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Ward Rooney said the bureau had removed all
severe weather warnings, although gale force winds were still occurring over coastal waters
in Bass Strait.

Hurricane force winds topping more than 170 km/h whipped parts of Tasmania this morning.

AAP jxt/pmu/ht/cdh

KEYWORD: WIND VIC NIGHTLEAD

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